Harry and Louise

Louise isn't the only dog in the city who is enjoying the Olympics. This little guy is Harry, and he lives in our building. We see him out and about quite often. I don't know about Harry, but for Louise the Olympics have been both a blessing and a curse. On the one hand, there are lots of interesting things to do and see when out on her walks, but on the other hand, we are often out to places where dogs cannot go.

She still gets to go to the office with me though. Actually things have become a little more flexible at work since two of the dog owners at the office are off on maternity leave. Yes, it has been said that there must be something in our water at the office. It works well for us though, so that's all right.

The other day Louise was in the office with me and during our lunch break we walked over to Sochi house. Holy crap the lineups to get in that place are daunting! We have friends who waited for over two hours to get in. Obviously Louise and I weren't able to do that over a lunch break so instead we headed over to check out the crew dismantling the stage where Steven Colbert performed. Louise was more interested in the mud in front of the stage. To her credit, the show was already over so there really wasn't much else to see.

We still get out to see things like the light displays, huge crowds and other Olympic related art displays, but most of them are the ones I have already posted about. I guess we have to plan some dog-friendly activities soon!

Still without a view of the torch

Louise has been participating in the Olympic Celebrations around town too! It's not just a people event. This first shot was taken when the Olympic torch ran past the office, which I documented briefly over here. Even without that though, Louise and I have been seeing a lot of the sights just simply by getting out for our nightly walks.

To her credit, she is the main reason that I was out all those nights taking pictures of the Vectorial Vancouver light display. That reminds me, I should revisit that again sometime this week if for no other reason than we haven't been there in a while.

The next shot was taken on Valentine's day - this is Louise eagerly checking out the fantastic plate of oysters we had. While she didn't get any oysters she did manage to get a couple scraps of lobster meat. But really it was a day for the cats to celebrate, as Valentine's day was Sophie's tenth birthday. We gave them some tuna but of course posting photos of cats on this blog would be bad form.

So moving right along, finally back to more Olympic talk. Louise, Holly and I were out walking the other night and went down to Coal Harbour in an effort to see the Olympic Torch. It is still a tricky shot to get, what with the fencing and all. Along the way we discovered this Olympic sign and Louise obliged by sitting in front of it. And really, that's all I can ask of her, isn't it?

Torch run madness!

We got up early today in order to see the Governator carry our torch. Of course, we only saw him on TV because I slept in a little too late. But our plan was to go to a slightly different spot where there would be free pancakes, so we already knew that we would miss Arnie by about twenty minutes.

The pancakes were... less than satisfying. They had aluminum shavings on them somehow. I guess the cooking surface was aluminum and it was rubbing off on them. Some folks didn't seem to mind or notice but we did and thought it was gross.

Somebody asked me to report on the Olympics from a pug's point of view and well here it is: all horses and asses. For more on that, check this out. The horses booby trapped the running path for the torch bearer.

So that was our early morning excitement. Then it was off to work, but it was VERY crowded trying to get to the sky train because the torch runners were still out, running along the streets we needed to cross. It took us twice as long to get to work but it was fun and you could sense the excitement so I didn't mind at all.

The plan was for Louise to come to work with me today because the torch route eventually went right past our office. In typical work fashion we held an Olympic torch party, complete with a wii-sports competition. At the scheduled time we all headed downstairs to line the street and cheer on the torch bearer. Those photos haven't been looked at yet, so I'm sure I will have material for more posts soon. For now you will have to settle for this spectacular shot of Louise kicking it up in front of McDonald's after peeing on their sign post. How's that for athletic spirit?

Vancouver Olympic Pug

It is rare for me to put up two photos that were taken at the same time but in this case I got a kick out of both shots. Louise and I were out for our walk and headed down Robson street to see what was going on. We were not there long before we happened to come up on one of the Olympic torch bearers! Things were very hectic as literally hundreds of people were lining up to take their picture with this woman.

She was so patient with everybody. Maybe because her parents were there watching, who knows? I am kidding of course - she was having a good time. Louise and I waited for a break in the action and I picked her up. Another woman was excited to meet Louise and then offered to take our picture for us. I figured that was a good idea and here are the photos. I like how in the first one Louise is still not quite sure what the heck this torch thing is, and then she moves on to trying to see who the heck is standing behind her in the second photo.

Louise and I were just about to fade out into the crowd when the father of the torchbearer (I really should have asked her name - if anyone can provide it in the comments I will be grateful) asked if we could pose for another photo. He had grown bored of taking pictures of all the people but a dog, that was something new and interesting to him.

After all that we headed downstairs briefly to see the ice rink below the street. It was very crowded thanks to a busker performing so we headed back up and back home - but had to stop to get a photo of Louise on a snowboard. She hopped right up on it like it was made for her and a crowd of people started taking her picture.

All this, and the Olympics haven't even started yet.

Catch that plane!

On this morning's walk, Louise helped me out with some early Valentine's day shopping. Once we had that done we were free to go explore the town to see what new things the Olympics have brought us.

One thing we are starting to see is a lot more people. It's good, I love hearing the different languages being spoken on the street. We do seem to find fans of Louise from just about anywhere though.

I think we set some kind of a record today with how many people asked if they could take Louise's picture. The record has to be for how many people ask, because I can't really keep track of the ones who just take a photo of her without asking (which is also ok, we don't mind).

Eventually we ended up down at the waterfront only to find another section of the seawall that is closed off to the public. This caused a minor detour that had us come out near the sea planes. This would normally not be a problem but about five minutes later I heard the engines roar as one of the planes prepared to take off. This got Louise barking at the plane, much to the delight of the people nearby. Once the plane took off Louise was pretty quick to calm back down.

Which is good, because then we encountered a toddler out walking with her parents. She was fascinated with Louise and even said 'nice doggy'. Louise stayed long enough to pose for a few pictures and then we were on our way.

Stella Artois is a pug, not a beer

Daily walk report: today Louise and I met another pug, this one a mere three years old but still fine looking for such a young pup. His name was Artois, short for Stella Artois, the beer.

Dogs named after beer seems to be a popular trend in these parts.

As the story goes, the man walking Artois (or Arty, as he was calling him) had decided to give a pug to his wife for Christmas. At first she wanted a female dog and was set on naming it 'Stella.' At the time they went to the breeder, little Arty was all that was left. The breeder suggested the name Artois to be in keeping with their original intentions. The name stuck, the dog came home and the rest, as they say, is history.

The pup was a touch active for Louise's tastes. After just a few minutes she acted out a bit with a quick snarl but they didn't seem to mind. Arty was still very much interested in Louise, who was then trying to regain her composure. Soon after parting we encountered a few tourists who asked if they could take Louise's picture. The attention from strangers was all it took to but Louise back in a good mood again.

No Snow makes for a nice walk

It certainly doesn't feel like the Olympics are upon us. It's too warm for that, but the city certainly is changing. There is a lot of preparation and construction involved. I had Louise into the office a few times last week and one of the most direct things that we noticed is that we no longer have to deal with cars for the last half of our commute, since that street has been blocked off.

It makes bringing Louise into the office so much nicer. I wonder if we could persuade them to keep it that way?

Probably not. But that is ok, it will be fun while it lasts and once the Olympics are over the seawall should be open again. That will be yet another cause to celebrate as that was always our favorite lunch time walk for days at the office.

This weekend was a quiet one for Louise and I think she liked it that way. I had a headache on Saturday night and went to bed quite early - Louise was only too happy to join me. Any excuse to go to bed early for that one.

Not feeling well after a walk in the rain

Okay, the title is a bit misleading. We did have a walk in the rain this morning, but Louise was feeling pretty good before, during and after that outing. It was pretty wet, but at least it wasn't too cold for her. She was dressed appropriately though, and had a good time.

This evening however, she got a bit of an upset tummy and got sick on a blanket. She didn't really have a lot of rich food or anything unusual so we aren't quite sure what set her off. She has been sleeping a lot today, so perhaps it is something that has been bugging her (no pun intended) for a little while.

For this evening we are letting her set the pace, and so far, her decision has been to sleep it off. If all goes well, she will be right in the morning and if not, we will probably make an impromptu stop to our local vet.

I expect she will pull through just fine.